Aramco Attack Likely State-Sponsored Terrorism

The strike on Saudi Arabia's oil fields appears to be an example of state-sponsored terrorism. State-sponsored terrorism involves terrorist acts on a state or government by a state or government.

That is the official view of the United States and the United Kingdom, both of which believe that Iran launched the missiles. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of perpetrating an "act of war" after the strikes on Saudi oil facilities, saying the attack had the "fingerprints of the Ayatollah."

However, some doubt remains as to who actually is responsible. Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani insists the attack came from Yemeni forces against whom a Saudi-led coalition has been fighting since March 2015.

However, as Pompeo told reporters, the claim that Houthi rebels launched the attack "doesn't change the fingerprints of the Ayatollah as having put at risk the global energy supply."

Saudi Aramco President Amin Nasser said the synchronized attacks were timed to create "maximum damage" to the Saudi oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Eighteen drones and seven cruise missiles bombarded the facilities in an assault described as a “Pearl Harbor-type" attack.

The attack knocked out an estimated 5.7 million barrels of daily oil production, slightly over five percent of the global daily crude production.

Related reading: Jacques Derrida on Terrorism; Killing and Dying to Marry Virgins; Terrorists Target African Christians; Boko Haram Spreads Terror; 10 Dead and 50 Injured in Quetta Terrorist Attack

Grand Mufti: "Destroy all the churches"

According to several Arabic news sources, last Monday, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, declared that it is "necessary to destroy all the churches of the region."

Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti is the embodiment of love and compassion (not!)

The Grand Mufti made his assertion in response to a question posed by a delegation from Kuwait, where a parliament member recently called for the "removal" of churches (he later "clarified" by saying he merely meant that no churches should be built in Kuwait): the delegation wanted to confirm Sharia's position on churches.

Accordingly, the Grand Mufti "stressed that Kuwait was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, and therefore it is necessary to destroy all churches in it."

As with many grand muftis before him, the Sheikh based his proclamation on the famous tradition, or hadith, wherein the prophet of Islam declared on his deathbed that "There are not to be two religions in the [Arabian] Peninsula," which has always been interpreted to mean that only Islam can be practiced in the region.

While the facts of this account speak for themselves, consider further:

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah is not just some random Muslim hating on churches. He is the Grand Mufti of the nation that brought Islam to the world. Moreover, he is the President of the Supreme Council of Ulema [Islamic scholars] and Chairman of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Issuing of Fatwas. Accordingly, when it comes to what Islam teaches, his words are immensely authoritative.

Read the whole report here.

Female Students Protest in Saudi Arabia; One Dead

ANHRI/IFEX) - Cairo, 13 March 2012 - ANHRI stated today that the widespread anger felt across the city of Abha following the dispersal of a sit-in at the King Khaled University on 7 March 2012 has gone beyond Abha to other parts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Several protests have taken place in the cities of Riyadh, al-Namas, Ar'ar, al-Qatif, and al-Rabeeah in a movement unprecedented in Saudi Arabia.

Female students of King Khaled University organized a "rare" sit-in, demanding improvement in the treatment of the University's board and the expulsion of the University Director. However, the University's board and the Saudi authorities did not listen to their grievances. Rather, they called on the police to violently disperse them, killing a female student and injuring 54 others in the process, as well as detaining a male student who expressed solidarity with them. Subsequently, anger escalated over this action by the authorities and protests spread to universities across the Kingdom, even though the detained student had been released on the same day.


In another incident in Taibah University in the city of Medina, a student was expelled for publicly criticizing the deteriorating conditions at the University in an open meeting with the Director. This highlights the cruelty of the majority of Saudi universities towards students.

The city of al-Qatif witnessed violent confrontations between the police and some protesters calling for social justice. One citizen died and many others were injured as a result. On the other hand, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) released a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior, in which the Ministry vowed to address "acts of terrorism" with the utmost intensity and firmness and described the protesters as "a deluded minority". The Ministry of Interior also tried to convey that these protests are sectarian because they are concentrated in al-Qatif, where many of the Kingdom's Shiites live, and called on the leaders of this region to condemn this minority that harms their interests, flagrantly inciting strife among the local residents.

"Only dialogue would help dissipate this social anger, not the repression and violence that characterizes the attitude of the Saudi government towards its citizens. The Saudi government has to learn the lesson that several Arab countries have taught to their rulers. The demands of justice and dignity in Saudi Arabia have to be met with change in policies, basing them on the values of freedom and human rights," said ANHRI.


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Haj Reached Peak Today

MOUNT ARAFAT (Saudi Arabia), Nov 5: More than two million Muslims flocked on Saturday to Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat and its surrounding plain, marking the peak day of the Haj.

The pilgrims filled the Namira Mosque in Arafat and the nearby streets and camps for collective prayer, led by Saudi Arabia’s top imam, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh.

“Islam is the solution for the problems” of Muslims, he said in a speech before the prayer began, warning the faithful of “a media and cultural invasion that seeks to weaken (their) faith”.

He urged the Muslims to solve their problems “without interference from their enemies,” condemning those who want to “provoke hostility between you and your leaders”.

There were no immediate reports of major incidents as security officials focused on crowd control.

Many pilgrims went on buses, while others set off on foot from Mina, a tent-village that comes to life only during the five-day pilgrimage.

Others took the Mashair Railway, also known as the Makkah Metro, to go to Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon.

The Chinese-built railway is operating this year at its full capacity of 72,000 people per hour to ease congestion and prevent stampedes in which hundreds have been killed in past years. The dual-track light railway connects the three holy sites of Mina, Muzdalifah and Mount Arafat.

After sunset, pilgrims swarmed to Muzdalifah, half way between Mount Arafat and Mina, to spend the night.

On Sunday, they will return to Mina after Fajr prayers for the first stage of the stoning of the devil and to make the sacrifice of an animal, usually a lamb with the beginning of Eidul Azha.

On the remaining three days of the Haj, the pilgrims continue the stoning before performing the circumambulation of the Kaaba and then heading for home.

More than 1.83 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from abroad, marking a 1.5 per cent increase from last year, said Makkah Governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal.

Several hundred thousand Saudis and foreign residents in the kingdom were also granted permits to join them, he added.

Coping with the world’s largest annual human assembly poses a security challenge for the Saudi authorities. To help prevent chaos, the authorities have numbered buses and tents in Mina and Arafat according to the countries from which the pilgrims have come.

For the first time this year, the Haj is being streamed live on video-sharing website YouTube in cooperation with the Saudi government.—AFP

Zardari and King Abdullah Discuss Cooperation

JEDDAH, July 20: President Asif Ali Zardari and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia agreed on Wednesday to work with greater cooperation in the wake of major developments in the region.

According to sources, the two leaders held extensive discussions on bilateral ties, situation in the Middle East and South Asia and the fight against militancy. The president who had arrived here earlier in the day called on the king at the Royal Palace.

The sources said that issues related to Iran, Afghanistan, situation in Bahrain and its security implications for the region came under discussion during the meeting which lasted over an hour.
Pakistan agreed to continue playing a positive role for stability in the region.

President Zardari said Pakistan wanted political stability in the Middle East and was against use of violence.

King Abdullah praised Pakistan’s sacrifices in the fight against militancy and said Saudi Arabia would remain a steadfast friend of the country through thick and thin.

The sources said the discussions were marked by conformity of views on virtually all issues.

On arrival, President Zardari and his entourage were greeted by Second Deputy Prime Minister Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz, Makkah Governor Prince Khalid Al Faisal, the mayor of Jeddah, senior members of the royal family and other dignitaries.

It may be mentioned that the credentials of new Pakistan Ambassador Mohammad Naeem Khan had been accepted within hours after his arrival in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The president is accompanied by Interior Minister Rehman Malik and his spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Analysts here regard President Zardari’s visit as significant because it immediately follows his visits to Iran and Afghanistan.

With the ‘end game’ approaching in the Afghan war and the turmoil in Bahrain pitting Saudi Arabia against Iran, the visit is being seen as an effort to evolve a joint strategy on the issues.

Analysts also find it significant that the president had come to Saudi Arabia at a time when there are marked strains in Pakistan’s relations with the US. According to diplomats here, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have traditionally been interacting closely on Afghanistan and with negotiations under way to bring about an end to West’s involvement in that country, both sides appear keen to synchronise their moves.

Saudi officials acknowledge that recent developments have helped bring the leaders of the two countries closer than they were about a year ago.

Despite a recent denial about Pakistan playing a mediatory role between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the sources said the matter had been under intense discussion between the two countries for the past few months.

The sources said that while Pakistan appeared committed to helping counter any upheaval in the region, it was also in a position to play a role in lowering the temperature.

In a statement to Saudi daily Okaz, President Zardari said his visit had come at an important time in terms of regional developments which made it necessary for the two countries to work together for common goals and objectives.

The president also briefed the Saudi leaders on the investigation into the assassination of Saudi diplomat Hassan Al Qahtani in Karachi in May.

President Zardari last visited Saudi Arabia in November 2008.

In the intervening period, relations between the leadership of the two countries were marked by some ups and downs. But the relations now appear to be back on track.

Before the president, the interior minister visited the kingdom twice in recent months and in April the then minister of state for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar came to Riyadh.

After the meeting on Wednesday, King Abdullah hosted a banquet for President Zardari and his entourage. The president will perform Umrah and visit Madinah before flying back to Pakistan on Thursday.

APP adds: Talking to reporters, the president’s spokesman said the visit was aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and taking forward the consultative process on issues of peace, security and political stability in countries of the region that had recently been witnessing violence and turmoil.

From here.

Saudi and UAE Groups Financing Terrorism

KARACHI: A US official in a cable sent to the State Department stated that “financial support estimated at nearly 100 million USD annually was making its way to Deobandi and Ahl-i-Hadith clerics in south Punjab from organisations in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ostensibly with the direct support of those governments.”

The cable sent in November 2008 by Bryan Hunt, the then Principal Officer at the US Consulate in Lahore, was based on information from discussions with local government and non-governmental sources during his trips to the cities of Multan and Bahawalpur.

Quoting local interlocutors, Hunt attempts to explain how the “sophisticated jihadi recruitment network” operated in a region dominated by the Barelvi sect, which, according to the cable, made south Punjab “traditionally hostile” to Deobandi and Ahl-i-Hadith schools of thought.

Hunt refers to a “network of Deobandi and Ahl-i-Hadith mosques and madrassahs” being strengthened through an influx of “charity” which originally reached organisations “such as Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Al-Khidmat foundation”. Portions of these funds would then be given away to clerics “in order to expand these sects’ presence” in a relatively inhospitable yet “potentially fruitful recruiting ground”.

Outlining the process of recruitment for militancy, the cable describes how “families with multiple children” and “severe financial difficulties” were generally being exploited for recruitment purposes. Families first approached by “ostensibly ‘charitable’” organisations would later be introduced to a “local Deobandi or Ahl-i-Hadith maulana” who would offer to educate the children at his madrassah and “find them employment in the service of Islam”. “Martyrdom” was also “often discussed”, with a final cash payment to the parents. “Local sources claim that the current average rate is approximately Rs 500,000 (approximately USD 6,500) per son,” the cable states.

Children recruited would be given age-specific indoctrination and would eventually be trained according to the madrassah teachers’ assessment of their inclination “to engage in violence and acceptance of jihadi culture” versus their value as promoters of Deobandi or Ahl-i-Hadith sects or recruiters, the cable states.

Recruits “chosen for jihad” would then be taken to “more sophisticated indoctrination camps”. “Locals identified three centres reportedly used for this purpose”. Two of the centres were stated to be in the Bahawalpur district, whereas one was reported as situated “on the outskirts of Dera Ghazi Khan city”. These centres “were primarily used for indoctrination”, after which “youths were generally sent on to more established training camps in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and then on to jihad either in FATA, NWFP, or as suicide bombers in settled areas”.

The cable goes on to quote local officials criticising the PML-N-led provincial and the PPP-led federal governments for their “failure to act” against “extremist madrassas, or known prominent leaders such as Jaish-i-Mohammad’s Masood Azhar”. The Bahawalpur district nazim at the time told Hunt that despite repeatedly highlighting the threat posed by extremist groups and indoctrination centres to the provincial and federal governments, he had received “no support” in dealing with the issue unless he was ready to change his political loyalties. The nazim, who at the time was with the PML-Q, “blamed politics, stating that unless he was willing to switch parties…neither the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz provincial nor the Pakistan People’s Party federal governments would take his requests seriously”.


Cable referenced: WikiLeaks # 178082.  Source: Pakistan Dawn

Saudi Arabia Protests Followed by Arrests

(Human Rights Watch/IFEX) - New York, March 27, 2011 - Saudi Arabia should immediately release protesters and critics arrested and detained without charge over the past weeks, Human Rights Watch said today. More than 100 people have been arrested in the Qatif district, and about 45 in the al-Ahsa' district, both Shia population centers in the kingdom's Eastern Province. A smaller number of people have been arrested in Riyadh and Qasim governorates.

The arrests violate the rights to peaceful expression and assembly, Human Rights Watch said.

"While King Abdullah announces financial gifts to Saudi citizens, his police arrest those who want more meaningful change," said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The scale of arrests has risen dramatically over the past two weeks."

Saudis have demanded political change in the wake of the popular uprisings that toppled the leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, but the government has not responded to the demands for a constitution and elected parliament, or the release of political prisoners. Instead, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz on February 23, 2011, announced a $35 billion package of financial assistance to the unemployed and support for first-time home buyers. On March 18, he announced new assistance totalling $96 billion for similar measures, in addition to creating 60,000 new security sector jobs.

In early March, the Interior Ministry and the Council of Senior Religious Scholars publicly reiterated the government's ban on protests ahead of demonstrations for a Saudi "Day of Rage" that had been called for March 11. That day, hundreds of people demonstrated in the streets of Qatif and al-Ahsa', calling for the release of nine Shia men held for over 13 years without charge or trial, and dozens of people demonstrated in Riyadh, calling for the release of thousands of Sunni security suspects held without charge or trial, some for over seven years. Similar protests took place in the Eastern Province on March 17 and 18, and in Riyadh on March 20.

In front of the Interior Ministry in Riyadh, police detained Bahiya, Dana, and Badria al-Rashudi and held them for a day, two fellow activists told Human Rights Watch. They are the daughters of Sulaiman al-Rashudi, a 76-year-old former judge and reform advocate arrested in February 2007 and held for years before prosecutors charged him recently, a lawyer for another man arrested and imprisoned with al-Rashudi told Human Rights Watch. Al-Rashudi is prohibited from contacting his lawyers. The daughters were there to demand their father's release.

On the night of March 20, the authorities arrested Muhammad al-Bajadi at his home in Qasim province, a statement from the Saudi Association for Political and Civil Rights said and another activist confirmed. Al-Bajadi, a member of the association, which the government has refused an operating license, had supported families demonstrating at the Interior Ministry to demand their relatives' release. Mubarak bin Zu'air, a lawyer whose father, Sa'id bin Zu'air, and brother, Sa'd bin Sa'id bin Zu'air, have long been detained without charge by the country's domestic intelligence service, was also arrested, as was Abd al-'Aziz al-Qaffari, demonstrating for the release of his brother.

Professor Abd al-Karim al-Khadr told Human Rights Watch that on March 20 he went from his home in Qasim province to the Interior Ministry in Riyadh to inquire about his son, Thamir, a rights activist detained without charge since March 2010. Police there arrested his other son, 17-year-old Jihad. Al-Khadr did not hear from Jihad until early on March 25, when he briefly saw him at Riyadh's Ma'dhar Police Station. Officers there informed him that their superiors had prohibited communication with those arrested.

Saudi domestic intelligence forces, the Interior Ministry's Directorate for General Investigations (mabahith), which runs its own prisons, also arrested two Syrian nationals over the past month, apparently for their peaceful criticism of political conditions. On February 26, the mabahith arrested Bashar Mihriz 'Abud at his office in Riyadh, where he recently had started work as an editor of Mobily, the magazine of the mobile phone carrier of the same name, a Jeddah-based human rights activist told Human Rights Watch.

'Abud had worked for eight years as an editor for the prominent daily newspaper Okaz and continued to write for the publication. His most recent article, written shortly before his arrest, detailed the life of the Syrian filmmaker Umar Amiralay, who died on February 5. Amiralay had been a vocal activist for political change in Syria, signing petitions in 2000 and 2005 calling for an end to emergency rule and the release of political prisoners there. 'Abud's wife, now in Syria, told Human Rights Watch that she had received a call from her husband on March 19, saying he was in al-Ha'ir prison south of Riyadh, and that his interrogators had finished their investigation about his article.

On March 21, also in Riyadh, the mabahith arrested Dr. Ala' al-Rashi, owner of the Cultural Critic House, a Syrian publishing company. Saudi Arabia's Information and Culture Ministry had invited al-Rashi to this year's international book fair in February, where he had exhibited his publishing house's books. Professor Abdullah al-Hamid, a Saudi political reformer whose books are banned in Saudi Arabia, told Human Rights Watch that his books on Islamic norms and constitutional rule had been exhibited by al-Rashi at the book fair. Al-Rashi's wife confirmed this account to Human Rights Watch and said that government censors confiscated these books at the book fair, but did not indicate there would be further legal action against al-Rashi.

(. . .)

"By arresting its peaceful critics and refusing any talk of political reform, Saudi rulers are fast becoming the last hold-outs in a region yearning for democratic change," Wilcke said.

Click here to read the full press release.


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Saudi Arabia Big Funder of Jihadists

Saudi Arabia is accused, along with Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, of failing to prevent some of its richest citizens financing the insurgency against Nato troops in Afghanistan. Fund-raisers from the Taliban regularly travel to UAE to take advantage of its weak borders and financial regulation to launder money.

However, it is Saudi Arabia that receives the harshest assessment. The country from which Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 terrorists originated, according to Mrs Clinton, "a critical financial support base for al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Toiba and other terrorist groups, including Hamas, which probably raise millions of dollars annually from Saudi sources, often during the Haj and Ramadan".

These pilgrimages, especially the Haj, are described as a "big problem" in another cable dated 29 May 2009. Detailing a briefing from the Saudi interior ministry to Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, it notes: "The Haj is still a major security loophole for the Saudis, since pilgrims often travel with large amounts of cash and the Saudis cannot refuse them entry into Saudi Arabia."



It also quotes one of the officials admitting that the Haj is "a vacuum in our security". The huge annual influx of Muslims from around the world offers a prime opportunity for militants and their donors to enter the kingdom to exchange funds, launder money through front companies and accept money from government-approved charities.

The memo underlines that the US supports the work of Islamic charities, but is frustrated that they are so easily exploited to fund terrorism.

"In 2002, the Saudi government promised to set up a charities committee that would address this issue, but has yet to do so," Mrs Clinton's cable reads, before seeming to admit with disappointment that merely "obtaining Saudi acknowledgement of the scope of this problem and a commitment to take decisive action" has proved hard.

Read it all here.

Cablegate: US Asked Saudi Help with Pakistan

The United States has been pushing its ally Saudi Arabia to help stabilise Pakistan and Afghanistan, but it has struggled to overcome the kingdom’s deep mistrust of President Asif Ali Zardari and doubts over US strategy for reining in militants, leaked US diplomatic memos show.

Saudi Arabia has long had enormous influence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, using its petro-wealth and religious ties to hard-liners in both countries. But Saudi Arabia has been cautious in mediating between the Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government.

A 2008 effort to get the two sides together in the Saudi city of Makkah collapsed, and earlier this month Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal said the kingdom would not mediate with the Taliban unless the movement broke its ties with Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

The memos released on the WikiLeaks website show differences in strategy between Washington and Saudi Arabia. American diplomats have been pressing the kingdom to throw its weight behind President Zardari with financial aid and intelligence help against the Pakistani Taliban and militant groups who have been crossing the border into Afghanistan to battle Nato and Afghan troops.

The pressure seems to have brought some grudging progress. But Saudi officials appear wary of aggressive action by the Pakistani military against militants in Pakistan, advising instead greater outreach to unruly tribes to rein in militants. Above all, they seem convinced Mr Zardari is too corrupt to keep the country together — and would prefer a military strongman or Saudi Arabia’s top ally in Pakistan, former prime minister and now opposition leader Nawaz Sharif.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud told the-then US security adviser James Jones that “we must reach out to tribal leaders and separate those we could work with from those we must fight”, and warned that the Pakistani military could lose its credibility among tribes if it was used to fight extremists.

Since Mr Zardari came to office in 2008, Pakistani diplomats have felt the coldness. The Pakistani ambassador to Riyadh, Umar Khan Alisherzai, complained to the Americans that the Saudis perceived Mr Zardari as “pro-Iranian… which made them apprehensive about working with him”.

“We have been punished by Saudi Arabia because our president talks to the Iranians,” Mr Alisherzai said, according to an October 2009 memo.

Instead, Saudi Arabia has pushed for a greater role for Mr Sharif. In 2008, before Mr Zardari’s election, Mr Saud touted Mr Sharif as “a force for stability” able to talk to “religious extremists who are not usually open to dialogue”, according to another US Embassy memo.

In March last year, President Obama’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, pressed Saudi officials to work with Mr Zardari, warning that instability could lead to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands.

Mr Holbrooke said US-Saudi cooperation on Pakistan “needed to rise to a higher level”. He urged the kingdom to provide economic assistance to Pakistan and help get Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif to work together, according to an embassy report on his talks with Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a senior counter-terror chief.Nearly a year later, in February, the US Embassy reported some progress, noting “close military and intelligence cooperation” between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and greater economic aid, with Saudi Arabia disbursing at that time half of $700 million it pledged to Pakistan.

It also said the kingdom had begun taking action against Saudis who send funding the Taliban and the militant group Laskhar-e-Taiba.

Still, it said, the Saudis were frustrated in efforts to reconcile between Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari, complaining that “compromise seemed alien to Pakistan politicians”.—AP

Al Qaeda Cells Busted in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, March 24: Saudi Arabia has broken up three cells of Al Qaeda militants that were planning attacks in the kingdom, including on its oil installations, according to the interior ministry.

One cell consisted of 101 people, and two smaller cells were made up of six men each. The large cell comprised 47 Saudis and 51 Yemenis, as well as a Somali, a Bangladeshi and an Eritrean, said a statement read out on state television on Wednesday. The two smaller groups were made up of 11 Saudis and a Yemeni. Arms, ammunition, computers, pre-paid telephone cards and unspecified documents were seized in the operation.

The large cell was discovered as the result of an investigation launched after suspected Al Qaeda militants tried to infiltrate the country in October with explosives. The two were killed in a shootout at the border and a third was arrested.—AFP